Coming out West has been such a welcome change of pace. The landscape is so starkly beautiful that I keep dragging behind the group to take more photos. But who can blame me? Everything here--from the giant Joshua trees to the enormous boulder-like rocks--is larger than life. I already knew that Nacho would love this part of the country since we both so thoroughly enjoyed our Southwest road trip in 2000. That little adventure lasted 11 days and we barely knew where we were going except that we had some AAA maps and a few hundred dollars in our checking account. Oh, man...those were the days. We ended up hitting a good portion of the old Route 66 from St. Louis to Arizona, before heading up through Utah and back by way of Colorado and Kansas. And from that experience, I found out that Nacho has a soft spot for the landscapes of the rocky West. I know we both miss that kind of free form travel now that life includes a preschooler, so this visit to see family and get to do some smaller hikes and visits to the Joshua Tree National Park was really ideal. On Saturday, we got up and hit the farmer's market nearby before checking out the park. The day was warming up nicely, but the winds kept it from ever feeling too hot. Just perfect for taking Elisa on a little stroll...
Can you tell who's having a great time? Elisa was so comfortable walking and kicking up lots of sandy pebbles. She wanted to lead the way much of the hike, but we did our best to keep her in line. Even without a nap, she hung in there and really did better than I could have predicted.
Of course, Elisa's energy can sometimes be deceptive during visits like this which is why I enforced her nap after returning home from the park. She cried and hissed and generally tried to climb out of her bed a few dozen times, but I knew I had to persist. And even though it was 4 p.m. (7 p.m. EST!!), she still took a good hour long nap and slept better that night than she had previously. It's just that I know from experience what happens when we forego napping all together. What appears to be a bubbly, happy girl can turn viciously sour when she's on the edge of sleep deprivation. For her, a good 10-11 hours a night plus a 2 hour block of nap time is about the right formula. The solid, quiet nap time doesn't always happen when we travel, but after a few days of jumbling it up, I think it's important to implement some down time. Which is exactly what we're doing today. And maybe it's just me, but I'm finding that in my old, pregnant state, a vacation of all go-go-go is too much for even this hearty traveler. Yes, naps are good. Especially when it gives us both the boost we need to see more rocks! Or as Elisa says, "BIG rocks!" Indeed.
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